Crunch's Pain
by Lord Red
Summary: Crunch suffers from losing Crash and Coco in an accident caused by Cortex. Can he avenge their deaths? Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Crunch's Pain

By: Lord Red

Chapter 1: A Terrible Accident

The cold morning air cut through a large bandicoot's face as he ran up the snow-covered hill. As he kept running, snow began falling again and soon he was surrounded by a vast valley of powdery snow.

"Shoot! This is where I'll have to stay until this blizzard clears up!" he grumbled as he ducked into a big hole inside a giant redwood tree.

The large bandicoot's name was Crunch, and he had been created by the evil Dr. Cortex to destroy Crash, but he had been set free. Now the maroon-colored bandicoot was living with Crash and his friends. But at the moment, he was also trying to avoid the freezing cold drafts.

"Come on, stupid weather! I've gotta get home! My butt's starting to freeze!" he groaned.

Suddenly, the wind dropped, the snow slowly melting away as well. Crunch went outside the tree and saw something that made him shake with fear. A huge fire had started spreading and had burned the hill to rubble. And it was heading for him! Without a moment's hesitation, Crunch turned around and ran back to the Crash Hut to warn Crash about it.

Unfortunately, when he got there, he saw that the whole hut had fallen!

"Crash! CRASH!" Crunch called as he started looking through the rubble. "WHERE ARE YOU? CRASH!"

"I'm— right— here," a voice groaned. Crunch looked around and finally saw the familiar orange ear underneath some of the wood. The large bandicoot walked over and pushed the wood out of the way.

"Crash! Are you all right? Speak to me!"

For a moment, Crash said nothing. Then, he whispered so low that Crunch could hardly hear.

"This was Cortex's doing."

"Cortex?" Crunch spluttered, furiously. "When I find him..."

Crash put up his hand. "Don't do anything drastic now, Crunch. You need to prepare the graves."

Crunch was confused. "What do you mean?"

"That accident hurt Coco and I so badly, we're pretty sure we're not going to live much longer."

Crunch's eyes started filling with tears. "No, Crash! Please don't say you're going to die!"

"I can't help it, buddy. You have to be strong. Coco is already dead anyway. I can't hold on anymore," Crash groaned as he died.

"Crash!" Crunch screamed. "Crash! Wake up!"

No answer came. It was deadly quiet. Crunch turned and sat down on the rubble and put his head in his hands.

"I don't have family anymore!" the large bandicoot sighed, sadly. "Now what am I going to do?"

Then he growled. Crash said Cortex had done this.

"Wait till I find you, Cortex," Crunch said, angrily. "I'll make sure you wish you were never born."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Journey

Crunch started on his way to Cortex Castle, fuming. It was bad enough he had lost his brother, Crunchinator Bandicoot, but losing his friends was the last straw.

"When I find you, Cortex, oh MAN are you dead!"

"What's with you, mate?" a voice suddenly asked, out of nowhere. This caught Crunch off guard and he tripped over a tree root. When he stood up, he looked around and saw Dingodile.

"Dingodile! Well, it's like this. Cortex.." A tear came to Crunch's eye again. "Cortex..."

"What'd he do?" Dingodile inquired. "Did he do something to you?"

"YES!" bellowed Crunch. "THAT BASTARD KILLED CRASH AND COCO!" He sobbed quietly. "Now I'm motherless, fatherless, brotherless and now friendless!"

Dingodile was furious! He had been on good terms with Crash and Coco for a long time now and now they were gone.

"I can't believe it! Wait till I get my hands on him!" Dingodile growled. "But first, how'd they die?"

"The house fell on them!" Crunch snapped. "Glass from the windows pierced them too! It was a mess!"

Now Dingodile was even more furious. "Cortex did this? When I see him..."

Crunch looked at him. "You want to get rid of him too, don't you?"

"Yeah! I do!" Dingodile barked. Crunch smiled at him.

"You've got the same fighting spirit I do, my friend," the large bandicoot said, punching Dingodile lightly on the arm. Dingodile smiled back.

"It's good to know we're on the same side."

Meanwhile, at Cortex Castle, Cortex was laughing like a lunatic, which is pretty much how he always did.

"My plan worked! Crash AND Coco are now out of my life!"

N. Gin gave Cortex a look. He was not amused. "You know something? I kind of liked Coco! And now you go ahead and kill her!"

Cortex scowled. "Do you dare talk to me like that?"

N. Gin rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Do what you want. Though, sources tell me you won't last long."

"What the hell do you mean by that, man?" Cortex spluttered, spraying spit all over the place.

"He means," Koala Kong snapped back from behind the shadows, "you forgot about Crunch Bandicoot! He's sworn to kill you!"

Cortex gave a derisive laugh and snort. "PAH! Just let him try it! I'll brainwash him again!"

"Cortex, if you do that, the consequences will be fatal!" N. Gin hissed. "Brainwashing a bandicoot like Crunch means that the world as we know it will end!"

"I don't care," Cortex snarled. "I will have him and if I don't succeed, you're going to be doing my laundry."

N. Gin's face darkened. "You can't make me do it if I quit!" he fumed. "WHICH I DO!" And he stormed off. Cortex rolled his eyes.

"This world domination scheme is going to be impossible to pull off without the right help."

To Be Continued.

A/N: Sorry for lack of updates! I was going through a serious writer's block and school was in my way too! But I won't slack as much now!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: An Unexpected Friend

Meanwhile, Crunch and Dingodile were still on their way to the creepy Cortex Castle. Suddenly, the weather began to get colder and snow started falling silently around them. Crunch groaned.

"This is what delayed me on the way home!"

Dingodile put his hand on Crunch's shoulder. "We'll make it through, mate. Don't you worry," he said. "Once we find some shelter, all we have to do is wait and then once the weather is nice and warm, we'll continue our journey."

"Where are we gonna find shelter at this time?" Crunch scoffed. "In a tree?"

Before Dingodile could reply, a voice called out. "Quick! Over here!"

Crunch and Dingodile's ears pricked up at the sound and they rushed to where it came from. When they did, their mouths dropped.

In front of them, a maroon bandicoot with green eyes and a nose ring and an earring stood on his porch.

"Oh my god! Crunchinator?" exclaimed Crunch. He hadn't seen his brother in ages. The last time he saw him, he was under Cortex's control. Crunchinator saw Crunch and his face brightened.

"Crunch!" he gasped as he ran over and gave Crunch a hi-five. "How's it going? And where are Crash and Coco?"

Crunch's face clouded over. "They're not here," he replied.

"Oh. Will they be coming later?"

"No," Crunch sighed. "They were killed in an accident."

Crunchinator was dismayed. "No way! How'd he die?"

Crunch began to cry. He couldn't stand thinking of them. Dingodile turned to Crunchinator and whispered so low Crunchinator could barely hear.

"Cortex."

Hearing this, Crunchinator's face began to contort with fury. "How could he!" he hissed. "Crash was one of my best buds!"

"And Coco was my girl," Dingodile replied, face turning red with fury. "And now she's gone!"

"When I find that Cortex, he's going to PAY!" Crunchinator roared. "He has CROSSED the line this time! He made my big brother CRY!"

Crunch stopped crying and smiled at his brother.

"You're a good brother, you know that?"

Meanwhile, Cortex was pacing around the castle. "What am I going to do?" he cried. "I don't have N. Gin to stop Crunch and Dingodile!"

"I'll do it, boss," a voice replied. Cortex looked up and saw Pinstripe Potoroo looming in the shadows. He smirked.

"Excellent. Oh, and if you should see Crunchinator, I want you to kill him."

Pinstripe scowled. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" he fumed. "After what yous did to him? I won't touch him!"

"DO IT OR YOU'RE FIRED!" Cortex bellowed. Pinstripe's scowl deepened.

"Yous think yous can threaten me like dat?" he snarled. "Who do yous think yous are?"

"I'M YOUR BOSS, DAMN IT!"

"Oh. Right," stuttered Pinstripe, meekly. "Sorry, sir." And he walked out to go find Crunch.

Back at the hut, Crunch explained everything to Crunchinator.

"So, all we need to do is head to Cortex Castle and kick Cortex's butt once and for all."

"Excellent!" Crunchinator replied. "That'll give me a chance to get back at him!"

"Err, I don't know if you should," Crunch replied. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you were near him?"

Crunchinator's face flushed. "You're right."

"So, it's up to me to fight him."

"If yous even MAKE it to the place!" a voice snickered. Crunch, Dingodile and Crunchinator turned around and saw a potoroo with greasy, black hair wearing a pinstripe suit and holding a gun.

"PINSTRIPE?" spluttered Crunchinator and Dingodile. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The First Attack

Pinstripe smirked with his beady little eyes. "I'll tell yous what's going on," he replied. "Your DEATH is going to happen!"

Crunchinator scowled. "You think I'm going to be intimidated by an imitator of those cheesy Godfather movies?" he scoffed. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"

Pinstripe glared at him. "Nobody mocks me like dat! Yous hear me? NOBODY!" he bellowed. And he shot the gun at Crunchinator's head. The bullet made contact.

"BRO!" screamed Crunch. But Crunchinator shook it off.

"HA! It'll take more than a BULLET to kill me! Aku-Aku made my skull thick enough to handle ANYTHING!"

Crunch and Dingodile smirked. There was no way Pinstripe was going to shoot him down.

Pinstripe rolled his eyes and threw his gun down. "Whatever. I don't have time for dis." He turned and walked out. As he did, he turned his head and snapped, "You're all wasting time!" And he slammed the door.

Crunch sat down on the hard floor and put his face in his knees. He felt awful, more awful than the time he saw Crash die, which was a day ago.

Dingodile's ears flopped downward as he saw Crunch's face. "Mate! Don't let Pinstripe talk to you like that! You need to kick his ass sometime!"

"I'm never fighting again," Crunch replied, softly. "Never. He's crushed my spirit."

Crunchinator glared angrily in Crunch's direction. "I can't believe my ears!" he exploded. "Crunch, this is NOT like you at all! The Crunch I know wouldn't give up like this! The Crunch I know would give a punk like Pinstripe a good old kick in the ass with his spike shoes! The Crunch I know wouldn't mope around like this! So are you going to be the new lame Crunch? Or are you going to toughen up and go defeat Cortex once and for all?"

Crunch's face settled into a scowl. "You're right, bro. I can't let Pinstripe's words keep me down. WE ARE GOING AFTER HIM!"

Dingodile smirked. "That's the ticket, mate!" He turned to Crunchinator. "How'd you learn to motivate people like that?"

"Once you've been around an older sibling for a few years, you pick it up," Crunchinator replied. "Now let's go!"

Back at the castle, things between Pinstripe and Cortex were getting ugly.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KILL THOSE PESTS!" Cortex yelled.

"Well, uhh," Pinstripe replied. "I just didn't think they were worthy."

"LIAR!" Cortex screamed. "Sources say you chickened out!"

"So maybe I DID! What's it to yous?" Pinstripe snapped back, turning his back.

"I AM YOUR BOSS!" Cortex roared. "And technically, your father as well."

Hearing this, Pinstripe started crying softly. "Yous ain't my dad," he snapped, tears falling out of his eyes. "YOUS KILLED HIM WIT YOUR DAMN RAY!"

"So what? It's not like I took away your brothers or anything!"

"THEY LEFT ME ALONE BECAUSE OF YOUS!" Pinstripe wailed. "THEY BLAMED DAD'S DEATH ON ME AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!" He gained control of himself again. "Cortex, yous are going to find someone else to give yous your 'help.' I quit." And he stormed off.

"First Dingodile, then N. Gin, now Pinstripe," groaned Cortex. "Things are not working out for me."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Second Attack

Meanwhile, at Crunchinator Bandicoot's hut, Crunch, Dingodile and Crunchinator were waiting for the weather to change.

"How much longer will this storm last?" Crunch grumbled. "I really want to kick Cortex's ass!"

Suddenly, the snow stopped falling and melted and the sun came out. Crunch's face lit up.

"That's our cue! Let's go!"

Outside, though, Crunch, Dingodile and Crunchinator faced a nasty surprise. It was Koala Kong, and he had allied with someone they had least expected. It was Evil Crash!

"EVIL CRASH?!!!? WHAT THE—'' Dingodile gasped. Evil Crash growled hungrily at the hybrid. Dingodile meat sounded good to him.

"That's right," Koala Kong replied, smirking. "Cortex hired him. And guess what! You're going to DIE before you even make it to Cortex Castle!" He laughed.

But Crunchinator scowled at the giant koala. "You may kill us, but you won't crush our spirit! We won't go down without a fight!"

"Fine," Koala Kong replied, agreeing to the challenge. "It's on!"

With that, Koala Kong picked up a boulder and threw it. Quickly, Crunch, Crunchinator and Dingodile all darted from the boulder, but barely.

"How does Crash DO that?" Crunchinator panted.

"ROAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!" bellowed Evil Crash as he began spinning, hoping to knock Crunchinator, Crunch or Dingodile off their guard, but instead, he went into the boulder and sent it right into Koala Kong!

"OOOMPH!" Koala Kong groaned. "You were SUPPOSED to hit those two bandicoots and that hybrid!"

"HYBRID?!!!?" Dingodile spluttered. "THAT DOES IT!!!!" turning his flame thrower on, he began to shoot fireballs.

Koala Kong and Evil Crash's eyes widened with horror. Then they ran off.

"That'll teach those wimps!" Crunchinator exclaimed.

"WE'LL TELL CORTEX ABOUT IT AND THEN YOU'RE HISTORY!!!!" Koala Kong roared.

"We'll kick his butt too!" Crunch called back, laughing. "We're tough!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Preparing For The Final Showdown

Back at Cortex Castle, Cortex had finally blown his last gasket.

"THOSE DAMN BANDICOOTS!!!" he bellowed. "THEY'RE STILL ALIVE!!!!" He banged his fist on the table. "Well, that's a minor setback. As soon as the bandicoots and that traitor Dingodile show up, I'll destroy all of them!"

Meanwhile, Crunch, Crunchinator and Dingodile were walking closer and closer to Cortex Castle. A blanket of fog began to cover the ground.

"It's getting harder and harder to see!" Crunch complained. "I can barely see my nose in front of my face!"

"Let me help," Dingodile replied, cheerfully, taking out his flame thrower. "Now I'll light the way." Turning on his flame thrower, he turned his head to Crunch. "Is that good, mate?"

"Yeah," Crunch replied. "Let's do this!"

Soon the small group reached the castle.

"You ready for this?" Dingodile asked Crunch.

"Always ready," Crunch replied, gripping his pants. "Let's go."

"WAIT! Where's Crunchinator?!!?" Dingodile screamed.

Crunch turned his head and saw Crunchinator wasn't behind them anymore!

"Oh shit," Crunch thought.

Meanwhile, Cortex was laughing at the distraught Crunchinator, who was now in a steel cage.

"You're such an idiot!" Cortex cackled. "You walked right into my trap! Well now I'll brainwash you and make you kill Crunch!"

Crunchinator glared at Cortex. "I won't do it. You can't do this to me!"

"It's either him or you."

Back outside, Crunch and Dingodile were preparing to go and rescue Crunchinator.

"_When I find Cortex,_" Crunch growled, "_he'll PAY for this!_"

"Right, mate!" Dingodile barked. "We'll teach him a thing or two!"

And they barged in and ran into Cortex's lab and saw Crunchinator in the cage.

"Crunch!" Crunchinator gasped. "Hurry up and get me outta here before I get brainwashed!"

"Hold on there!" Crunch called back as he ran at the cage. Then, ZAP! Crunch could feel his stomach tingling.

"What the hell?"

"My special forcefield," Cortex replied, smirking. "You like it?"

"You're a terrible man," Crunch growled. Cortex's smirk broadened.

"Thank you! Now, prepare to meet your demise!" And he activated Crunchinator's brainwashing helmet. Instantly, Crunchinator Bandicoot's eyes turned red.

"Crunchinator, obliterate them!"

"Yes, master," Crunchinator replied as he broke out of his cage and attacked Crunch.

"CRUNCH!!!!" Dingodile yelled, turning on Cortex. "You're going to PAY, mate! PAY!!!!"

"Don't be STUPID!" Cortex snapped. Dingodile spluttered in fury.

"Stupid! STUPID?!!!?" the hybrid roared. "IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?!!!?" With a mighty scream, Dingodile hurled a punch at Cortex and sent Cortex backwards into his table.

Meanwhile, Crunch was struggling really hard with Crunchinator. Crunchinator had managed to scratch Crunch's stomach open, slightly and Crunch was hunched over, bleeding.

"Bro! Why are you doing this?" Crunch moaned. Then he saw the helmet.

"Cortex." Tears blinded Crunch again, only they were a lot hotter. "How could he!!!!"

Hearing this, Crunchinator's helmet fell off and Crunchinator lost his brainwashed look.

"Bro! Don't be upset!" Then Crunchinator saw Crunch's stomach.

"Oh my god! Did I do that?"

"Not on purpose, mate!" Dingodile called. "Cortex did that!"

"Cortex!!!!" Crunchinator's face was contorted with rage. Cortex could see Crunchinator edging closer and closer and he knew he was going to lose.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Last Blow

"This is going to end badly for me," Cortex groaned as Crunchinator ran at him.

"You're DEAD, you little twerp!" Crunchinator fumed. "You hear me?!!!? DEAD!!!"

Cortex scowled. "Nobody calls me a little twerp."

"Yeah? Well I just DID!!!" Crunchinator bellowed. But then he saw something that made him shudder. Cortex pulled out the Termination Ray.

"I'm sorry I created ALL of you three!" Cortex fumed. "But I'm especially sorry I evolved TWO BACKSTABBING BANDICOOTS!! Which of you wants to die first?"

Crunchinator and Crunch looked at each other, tears forming in their eyes. The bandicoot family would be torn apart unless they could pull off one final move.

"You have 10 more seconds to decide before I obliterate both of you at once!" Cortex snarled.

"Obliterate THIS!" Dingodile growled as he took out his flame thrower and burnt the Termination Ray to the ground. Now Cortex was REALLY pissed off.

"You are ALL traitors who deserve to die!"

"No. YOU became the traitor when you started this whole "world domination" scheme. You stopped protecting people and you stopped caring about my kind," Crunch snarled.

"What are you talking about, for Christ's sake?" Cortex spluttered.

"I'm saying that you've betrayed humanity!" Crunch replied, punching Cortex hard enough to send him flying out of the castle and over a cliff. They had won.

"Good going, mates!" Dingodile barked. Then he saw Crunch's bleeding stomach. "Ya might want ta have that thing looked at."

"Aku-Aku could fix it. Hopefully," Crunch replied. He didn't know where Aku-Aku was.

"We've GOT to find him!" Crunchinator exclaimed. "If we don't, you might die!"

So Dingodile, Crunchinator and Crunch left the castle.

"I feel so stupid. I can't believe I let myself get captured like that!" Crunchinator fumed.

"It wasn't your fault," Crunch replied. "This place was rigged with traps. I'm lucky I didn't get caught in one."

As they went down the hill, they saw something. The Crash Hut had been rebuilt!

"How the hell—'' Crunch began, but then he saw Crash and Coco!

"I'll be damned!" Crunchinator gasped as Crunch and Dingodile ran down the hill to greet them.

"I thought you guys had died!" Crunch exclaimed. Crash smiled at the large bandicoot.

"We did. Aku-Aku managed to save us, though." Then he saw Crunch's cut stomach. "What happened?"

"Oh I was fighting Cortex to avenge your death and Crunchinator was brainwashed and he got me," Crunch explained. "But don't be hard on him. It wasn't his fault at all."

"We'll get that treated immediately!" Crash barked. Meanwhile, Dingodile and Coco were kissing each other.

"It's good ta see ya again!" Dingodile sighed. Coco blushed.

"I'm glad you're all right, Dingodile. What happened to Cortex?"

Dingodile growled lowly. "Don't mention his name. We punched him over a cliff. If he survives that, I'm going ta get him REAL good."

Inside the Crash Hut, Aku-Aku was helping Crash with Crunch's wound and Crunchinator was sitting on the couch.

"Wow, Crunch. This was pretty serious. You okay?" Aku-Aku asked.

"Yes. Cortex brainwashed Crunchinator and that's how this happened," Crunch replied. Hearing this, Crunchinator softly sobbed. Crunch's ears pricked up.

"Crunchinator? Crunchinator! What's wrong?" Crunch questioned.

"I feel really guilty!" Crunchinator sobbed. "I hurt my own brother!"

"Everything's okay now, Crunchinator," Crunch said, gently. "You don't need to be. I forgive you."

"Thank you," Crunchinator sniffed. "You're the best."

Now that Cortex was gone, a sense of tranquillity could be felt on the beach. Tensions had been forgotten and all the battles of the day had been long forgotten. As Crunch and Crunchinator stared up at the moon and stars, they wondered how long it would be until they had to fight again.

THE END


End file.
